Texans RB Foster recovering from calf strain

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Texans running back Arian Foster is still recovering from a right calf strain, but said Saturday that he feels good and shouldn't be out of camp much longer.

Pat Sullivan

Houston Texans' Arian Foster tosses a football at NFL football training camp Saturday, July 27, 2013, in Houston. The star running back started training camp on the physically unable to perform list with a calf injury received at the beginning of organized training activities. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

Houston Texans' Arian Foster tosses a football at NFL football training camp Saturday, July 27, 2013, in Houston. The star running back started training camp on the physically unable to perform list with a calf injury received at the beginning of organized training activities. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

Houston Texans' Arian Foster, right, tosses a football toward Andre Johnson (80) during NFL football training camp Saturday, July 27, 2013, in Houston. The star running back started training camp on the physically unable to perform list with a calf injury received at the beginning of organized training activities. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

Foster rushed for 1,424 yards and 15 touchdowns last year for his third straight 1,200-yard season.

The Texans placing him on the physically unable to perform list the night before the start of training camp was somewhat of a surprise.

"I thought he'd be ready to go, but (the team trainer) just thinks he needs a few days with them to work into the routine," coach Gary Kubiak said. "But he's had a good summer; he's been here every day. I expect him back pretty quickly."

But they certainly aren't going to rush their star running back onto the field only to have him suffer a setback.

"I have played through a lot of things, but this is just something you can't and there's no reason to right now," he said. "I'm just going to take my time and when I feel 100 percent confident, I'll be ready."

Foster spent the offseason using a different training regimen in an attempt to try and "reinvent" himself. He said the injury was what prompted the change, but that it ended up being beneficial because he thinks doing the same workouts too much could cause a plateau in performance.

"I just want to harness my craft and hone it and be the best me I can be," Foster said. "Ultimately, if I'm the best me for my team then that helps us get wins. I think that's what every athlete's goal should be: just be the best for them and to be part of a unit."

Foster and the Texans were unhappy that they lost steam down the stretch in 2012, losing three of their last four regular-season games, which kept them from gaining homefield advantage and a playoff bye. But more upsetting than that span to Foster was their loss to New England in the playoffs.

"Anytime you don't win the last game of the season, it's a disappointment," he said. "I think going into the offseason, it helps, but it's a part of the game. Losing is a part of the NFL. You can use it as your anchor or use it as your sail, so that's basically what we have done this offseason. We put it behind us and it's time to move forward and try and develop a new identity for this organization and this city."

Along with his training, Foster found time for a new hobby this offseason when he landed a part in a movie. It wasn't his first foray into acting as Foster had played himself in an episode of the television show "Hawaii Five-0" early this year.

This role was different, though, as he competed against other candidates to gain the role without telling anyone who he was.

"That's probably what was the most gratifying thing for me," Foster said. "They didn't say: 'Hey, you want to be in a movie because you're an actual running back.' They had me audition, so I had to audition. My audition tape was up against 100 other audition tapes and they felt like I was the best guy for the part."

However the role didn't require a major stretch for Foster as he portrayed a football player in the upcoming movie called "Draft Day" starring Kevin Costner. In an interesting moment in the film, Foster, who went undrafted out of Tennessee, has a scene where he is drafted and takes the stage with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

"It was fake, man," Foster said of that moment. "You know what I mean? It wasn't genuine. It was acting. It wasn't like any vindication or anything like that. It was fun, I guess. I already know him. It was a joke, though. I finally got drafted five years into the league."

Though he has never taken acting lessons, Foster said he was involved in theater as a child and once starred in a middle school production of Shakespeare's "Macbeth."